Patriots Daily: Three PUP Players Return to Practice

The New England Patriots had three players on the reserve/PUP list (physically unable to perform) to start the 2024 season. All three were forced to miss the first four games of the season. However, all three returned to participate in Wednesday’s practice, indicating they are on their way to returning to action. This is some much-needed good news for a team struggling to stay healthy.

The players practicing for the first time this season were WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Sione Takitaki, and S Marte Mapu.

When a player returns to practice from the PUP list, the team has 21 days to activate them to the 53-man roster. If the player is not activated, they remain inactive for the rest of the season. The players could miss another three games before being activated for Week 8. However, activations may happen before this Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.

New England has an open roster spot on the 53-man roster without needing to make additional moves. Based on yesterday’s news about David Andrews likely being done for the year, placing Andrews on IR would open up a second spot. Kyle Dugger and Caedan Wallace, both injured on Sunday, were non-participants in Wednesday’s practice. However, it is unclear if either will need to be placed on injured reserve at this point.

Wide receiver K.J. Osborn and safety Jabrill Peppers were both listed as DNP (did not participate) on Wednesday’s Patriots practice participation report with shoulder injuries. There were ten limited participants, including the three PUP players.

Also, in Thursday’s Patriots Daily:

Patriots Fact/Trivia of the Day

Kendrick Bourne was the Patriots leading receiver (406 yards) when he was injured in Week 8 last season. DeMario Douglas went on to lead the team in receiving yards with 561. It was the first time New England had nobody with 600 yards receiving since 1988 when Stanley Morgan led the team with 502 receiving yards.

The 1988 New England Patriots finished 9-7 despite their quarterbacks combining to complete 51.2% of their passes for 2,173 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 28 interceptions.

Post of the Day

Today’s post is former New England Patriots executive Scott Pioli telling the story of how they beat the New York Jets to drafting Matt Light on Julian Edelman’s “Named with Games” podcast:

Scott Pioli explains how The Patriots screwed over The Jets to draft Matt Light:@scottpioli51 @Edelman11 pic.twitter.com/i8Psy3ZGpJ

— Games with Names (@gameswithnames) October 2, 2024

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